


I'll Fit Everything I Need in My Double-Wide

by cathybites



Category: Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-20
Updated: 2011-04-20
Packaged: 2017-10-18 10:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/187738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathybites/pseuds/cathybites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's not much that Annette needs or wants in this world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Fit Everything I Need in My Double-Wide

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mazily as part of Yuletide 2007.

Winning the beauty pageant wasn't anything special to Annette. Oh sure, she got a fancy crown and some flowers, and everybody smiled at her and kissed her ass for about a week, but that was really all there was to it. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't a big deal, and it sure as hell wasn't her ticket to anywhere but St. Paul, no matter what any of the old farts in the Ladies' Auxiliary said. In fact, as far as Annette was concerned, she wasn't ever going to go anywhere, just stay in Mount Rose until she got old and died pissing in her sleep.

She wasn't bothered by it too much because she didn't really want to leave. Oh sure, she sometimes thought about traveling, or following Aerosmith on tour, but all the dreams of college and having careers and raising families that everyone else had? Not for her. It wasn't like Annette didn't have dreams, or fond wishes, or whatever it was people went on about on the television programs. It was just that her dreams and wishes were a little simpler than most people's. She wished for things like a new curling iron, or a pair of jeans that didn't make her ass look fat, or that the little minus sign would come up instead of the plus.

There was a guidance counselor at school, this lady from California who said, "Sunny, call me Sunny," the first time Annette met her. Sunny had long blonde hair she wore in braids, and her office smelled like beans and oil every time Annette was in it. She was always trying to get Annette to "think about your future, who you can be, the doors that can open up to you." But whenever Annette did, all she could see was herself, sitting in front of the TV set like she was right now, drinking pop and hanging out with Loretta.

She thought about that sometimes, how she couldn't imagine her future without Loretta. Once, she made the mistake of telling Sunny about that, about the tight feeling she got in her chest when she thought about moving away, or Loretta moving away, or being separated for whatever stupid reason her mind could come up with. Sunny had pursed her mouth and leaned back in her chair, humming to herself.

"I have something for you," she'd finally said, reaching into a desk drawer to pull a book out. There was no jacket and nothing was written on the front or back. "I think reading that will _really_ help you with this journey of discovery that you're on. And," she'd laid a hand on top of Annette's, squeezing tightly, "if you have any questions, any questions at all, don't hesitate to come to me."

There'd been an extremely awkward moment where Sunny squeezed Annette's hand again and wouldn't let go. Annette had jerked away and mumbled something about missing the bus. She threw the book out without glancing at it, and despite Sunny's attempts to bring it up again, Annette never said another word about it.

\---

The first boy Annette ever kissed was Jason Smalls. He was tall and lanky, with shoulder-length black hair all business in the front, party in the back, and the only eighth-grader with a moustache (also, the only eighth-grader legally allowed to drive.) Annette thought he was absolutely to die for, even more than David Cassidy. More, even, than Leif Garrett. And when he pulled her behind the bleachers an hour into the fall dance, Annette thought all of her dreams were about to come true.

The reality of the situation was that when he kissed her, he mashed his teeth against her mouth and licked all over her lips, so much that spit ran down her chin. He also tasted like beef jerky and Marlboros, and when he pulled away, a string of spit hung between their mouths, a fat and glistening droplet weighing it down in the middle.

Annette turned her head to the side and promptly threw up all over a faded Sarah Rose Miss Teen Princess poster that had gotten lost under the bleachers. Then she rinsed her mouth out with the whiskey Bobby handed her and let him go to second base.

The first person Annette ever kissed was Loretta. Twelve-years-old, watching _Happy Days_ , sighing over the dreaminess of The Fonz, and during the first commercial break, Annette leaned over and, without giving it a single thought, kissed her.

Loretta tasted like vanilla lip gloss, buttered popcorn, and RC cola. Her lips were soft, and when Annette licked at them, her breathing hitched and she opened her mouth, letting Annette slick her tongue inside.

The commercial wasn't even over - Mr. Whimple crying over people squeezing the Charmin again - when Annette pulled away, heart beating rapidfire against her ribs.

Loretta stared at her, mouth still half-open from Annette's kiss. There was a streak of spit along the curve of her lower lip, reflecting the flickering light from the TV, and Annette had to fight to keep from leaning over to run her tongue over it.

Instead, she held her breath, waited for Loretta to say something. Just as the show came back on and Annette was about to pass out from the lack of air, Loretta said, "Huh. Well, that's something new." She drew in a breath, but she didn't say anything more, just turned back to the TV. The next commercial break, though, grabbed Annette by the shoulders and pulled her in for another kiss.

\---

The thought crossed Annette's mind from time to time that that moment was the defining one of their friendship. She still wasn't sure why she had done it - one moment she'd been dreaming of Henry Winkler's lips, the next she had her tongue in her best friend's mouth. It had just seemed...right, like a smoke first thing in the morning, or going for the highlights in her hair.

And it just seemed right to keep doing it. Annette still liked boys, still let them chase after her and try to win her over, but when she was in between, or when she was bored, or when Loretta would call with a "Whacha doin?" it was nothing to go over and fool around with Loretta. It was nice, Annette thought, Loretta's tongue tracing along the curve of her hips. Something nice and easy in a world that wasn't.

Sometimes Annette thought that she _should_ be wishing for more, that there was more to life than spending it in Mount Rose, hooking up with random guys whenever she could. All of the girls she'd graduated with were either married or engaged, and her mom spent more time than not hinting that Annette should start looking for a man. Annette never knew how to say "Why do I need a man when I got Loretta?" without giving her mother a stroke, so she would just grunt and change the subject.

She once asked Loretta what she wanted in life. They were lying in Loretta's bed, sheets wrapped around them, passing a cigarette back and forth. Loretta took a long drag, held it for a moment before exhaling and shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe a new curling iron. A pack of smokes." Then she'd looked around her room, eyes settling on Annette, and she smiled. "Don't need much more than this."

Annette took the cigarette from her, wrapped her lips around it, tasted the sharp smokiness of the tobacco, the vanilla lip gloss Loretta still used. She thought about her mom, and the crown still hanging in her room, mounted on a plaque like some 10-point buck. She thought about all of the boys who drifted in and out of her life, and the way not a single one of them made her feel like anything special.

Then she thought about how happy she was, right then and there, and she nodded, gave Loretta a smile in return. "Nah, me neither."


End file.
